6: Mad Men by Bill Bodkin

They stuck the landing.

Mad Men has been one of the most amazing, and at the same time most frustrating, dramas to watch. The show that paved the way for AMC’s cable TV dominance, and really helped spawn the new “Golden Age of Television,” really floundered its past few seasons. Last year’s “part one” of the final season was absolutely terrible. It took viewers nowhere, and it almost made a lifelong Mad Men viewer like myself almost not care to tune in for “part two” which aired this spring.

I’m glad I did tune in. The second half of Mad Men‘s final season was perfect. The writers gave us endings to all our characters that ranged from utterly joyous (Peggy and Stan end up together, Pete reunites with his family), to bittersweet (Joan loses her serious boyfriend, but becomes her own boss) to the tragic (Betty has inoperable lung cancer). They were endings that were logical and showed growth, and gave the viewers closure.

And that final episode. My God, that final episode. Jon Hamm gave the performance of a lifetime. Hamm’s always been great as the lovable rapscallion Don Draper, but he’s never been this good. In that final episode he ripped your heart out, made you cry bitter tears, and then restored your faith in humanity all within the same 60 minutes. He deserved his recent and very delayed Emmy win, without a doubt.

As for the ending, kudos to creator Matthew Weiner for giving us a slightly ambiguous ending. Did Don create Coca-Cola’s famous 1971 ad, “I Want To Give the World a Coke?” It’s an ending people are still talking about, and an ending that fits this serious. Mad Men is one of the most important television shows of the this century, and it was without a doubt one of the best television experiences of 2015.

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